The Ones You Love The Most
by Sundiata
Summary: Kimberley Harris doesn't trust guys...especially white guys. What happens when she falls in love with two? About time I updated!
1. Reflections Of My Life

**THE ONES YOU LOVE THE MOST**

Disclaimer: I don't own Remember the Titans or any of the characters or real life people portrayed in the movie. Any events that occurred in this story are fictional and are not in any way connected to any real people hopefully. I am not making any money from this story, so please don't sue me and try to take away my Camaro. I do own Kimberley Harris, her mother, father (not the real parents of the real Jerry Harris) and stepfather (but I don't really want to own him), the Lloyds and Lana Kane. I want to own Ryan Hurst and Kip Pardue, but unfortunately EBay has not auctioned them off yet. ;)

Author's Notes: I want to say that all abuse is wrong: child abuse, spousal abuse, and racial abuse. It is EXTREMELY wrong and it should be REPORTED. This story contains all three, so you are forewarned. There also will be some objectionable language and racist slang from time to time. Ok, most of the time. There are also some sexual situations and some serious stuff that is a little shocking since this story idea was spawned from a Disney movie. That's why this story is PG-13. If you think you can handle all that bad stuff, please read on.

Author Info: This is my first ever fanfic, so please R&R. I have been reading all the other RTT fanfics and I really love all of them. All of my reviews of the other stories have been posted under the name Grace, so that is actually me! And thanks to everyone who has written. I would not know about disclaimer's and such if it wasn't for y'all!

Technical Notes: This first chapter is about Kimberley and Rev growing up. It is from Kimberley's POV. Some of the chapters will be from her POV, and some from the third person. Got it? Oh well, neither do I.

_Chapter One: Reflections Of My Life_

_Somewhere between San Francisco and Alexandria_

I never wanted to come back to Alexandria. In fact, my life goal was to stay as far away from here as I could. So many bad things have happened to me there I feel as if there is a curse on me. Part of me knew that even if I tried I could never escape my past.

My brother and I were born in Alexandria on February 8th, 1954 to Russell and Mary Harris. I was named Kimberley Grace and my twin was named Jerald James. Not long after we were born, my father died as a result of a riot in Birmingham, Alabama. Two white police officers beat him to death after he refused to leave a diner. His body was not even discovered until two weeks after my mother reported him missing.

A couple of years later, my mother married a white truck driver named Lenny Knolls. Lenny was the physical embodiment of the phrase "white trash". Although he was white, he wasn't accepted by the community, so he moved in to our house in the 'Burg. I never understood why my mother married him, but I know that it had something to do with money. He treated her and I like his slaves, and my brother Jerry like a whipping boy. By the age of six, Jerry was in the hospital more times than I could count. My mother did everything she could to stop it, but she knew that if she tried to leave, he would kill her. Eventually, he started hitting her too, but he never touched me. After years of living like this, with each attack worse than the previous on Jerry and my mother, finally the situation exploded and shattered our lives.

I was home alone one winter night, having just turned thirteen. Jerry was at the church where he often escaped to after school. He had become fixated on the Bible, and was focusing on becoming a minister. Jerry found solace at church, and he even seemed to forgive Lenny for the way he was treated. His friends, Julius and Petey, had nicknamed him "Rev" for spending so much time there. Even though I liked church, I couldn't be there too long before it started to make me feel guilty. My mother was at the factory working. I felt quite safe in the house, even though Lenny was due back from Florida late that night. I remember the shock that registered across my face when he stumbled in the front door.

"Where's your mama," he slurred.

"She's at work," I said softly while backing away from him.

"Figures. That stupid black bitch probably can't get nobody to take her offa the corner," he laughed. He kicked off his boots, and fell beside me on the couch. He put his face as close to mine as he could without actually touching me.

"How about you get me a little somethin' to drink?" Lenny breathed into my face.

I tried not to gag at the smell of the whiskey already on his breath. "I don't know where mama keeps the whiskey, sir." He always made us call him sir, even my mother. Not Lenny, certainly not dad, but sir.

"Then why don't you give me a little somethin' else?" he said suggestively.

"I don't think that's a good idea, sir," I said as calmly as I could while I tried not to run out the door.

"Why not? It's about time I made ya a woman an' put ya on the corner with your whore of a mama".

I was trying hard not to cry. As I went to get up, he pushed me back down. My head hit the hard wooden armrest of the couch. As I cried out in pain, Lenny crawled on top of me and put one hand on my throat and one on my adolescent chest.

"If I was you, I'd be grateful that your gettin' it from a real man, not one of those little niggers on the street".

As he tried to pull my shirt over my head, I spit in his face. He slapped me so hard it knocked me unconscious. When I came to about three minutes later, he had my skirt pulled up and my underwear pulled down. He was entering me right when my mother came through the front door.

Oh, my Lord!" she screamed. "Get off her right now, you bastard!"

My mother ran up to Lenny and started punching him in the face. He was so caught up in his own arousal that he just shoved my mother back with his hand. I started to scream as loudly as I could. Mama finally hit him hard enough to get him off of me. He hit he ground, got up quickly, and started chasing after my mother. He caught up with her at the top of our stairs.

Lenny shoved her up against the wall so hard that the picture of my dad fell to the ground and the glass shattered. He held her up by her throat, and told her to say goodbye to me.

"Run, Kimmy! Go to the Campbell's" she hoarsely screamed. They lived two doors down from our house.

I didn't want to leave her there, but I knew that I needed someone to help me. I ran breathlessly over to the Campbell's and pounded on their front door.

Charles, Julius' father answered it. He smiled when he saw me, then it quickly vanished.

"Mr. Campbell, I need you to call the police! Lenny is hurting my mama!"

He grimly looked over my head. He told me to go inside and call the police and lock all the doors. He ran down the street towards our house.

Once inside, I called 9-1-1 and screamed my name, address, and what was going on. I didn't even wait for a reply. I hung up he phone and collapsed on the ground in tears. I must have passed out from hysteria, because the next thing I knew, I was in a hospital bed with Rev by my side, his face tearstained, holding his bible and my hand. I knew instantly from the look on his face that our mother was gone. Words were never that necessary between us, since we shared that special twin bond, but just looking at him said all that needed to be said.

The weeks that followed were a blur. The funeral, Lenny's arrest and trial, not being able to pack our own things because of the bloodstains on the walls. I don't remember much about anything. Everyone says I didn't talk for the longest time. Rev stayed with the Campbell's and I stayed with my best friend Lana Kane. After Lenny was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, it was up to the same judge to decide where we should live. They sent Rev and I to live with our grandmother. After the first week there, I threw up constantly. While my grandmother suspected nerves, I suspected pregnancy. No one knew that Lenny had raped me. I had been too ashamed to tell anyone. After another month, I ran away. I had been taking money from Lenny's wallet since I was seven to help my family escape. With almost three hundred dollars in my pocket, I got on the first bus and headed straight out to California.

On my way, the bus I was on stopped just outside of the Arizona/New Mexico border. A white man who had been on the bus since I had picked a fight when a Mexican man tried to take he seat on the bus. One thing led to another, and they ended up knocking me to the ground. Once again, I woke up in the hospital. I had miscarried. Even though I had never wanted this baby, a bitterness filled me inside that consumed me whole. It seemed like white people were the cause of all my losses and tragedies. First my father, then my mother, and now my child.

Once I finally got to San Francisco, I took odd jobs and tried to figure out what to do with my life. I knew that I had to finish high school, so I enrolled at a local one close to the spare room in the diner that I had been working in. Eventually I moved in with one of my friend's families. They never asked too many questions, and just assumed I was like any other runaway who roamed the streets, which was so common there. One night I got up enough courage to send one of my many letters to Rev. I had only sent him one, with no return address, just to let him know I was okay. With this one, I left the Lloyd's return address. He responded within a week, begging me to come home. In his letter, he said he and our grandmother had been trying to find me ever since I left, which had been almost four years ago. She was terminally ill with cancer, and just wanted to make sure that I was safe. She thought she was the reason I had run away. Rev knew the truth now, after reading my letter. He begged me to come home, and let God take care of my problems, while they took care of me. At the end of the letter were the words that Mama always used to whisper in our ear before we drifted off to sleep.

"Jesus will always love you, and so will I."

I started to cry as I folded up the letter. I missed my brother and my grandmother, even though I barely knew her. If she could love me enough to want to find me after all these years, I could certainly go home and take care of her. Couldn't I? Could I?

After breaking down and telling the Lloyds everything, they called my grandmother and told her everything. She started crying and said that she wished I would had just come to her and explained everything. After talking to her for almost an hour, I asked to talk to Rev.

"Honey, I wish you could, but he's away at football camp right now. If you start home tomorrow, you'll be home about a day after he is."

A day. Five days and I would be back in Virginia. Did I really want to go back? Part of me said no, but part of me yearned for Alexandria and Rev. I knew I could not disappoint Rev. He was the only person I could never say no to. My grandmother wired me four hundred dollars the next day. Two hours and ten thousand thank yous to the Lloyds, I sped down Interstate Five in my convertible Volkswagen bug towards home not looking back, only forward.

* * *

So, what do y'all think? Please review and let me know if I should just stop and bow down to the people who can write better than me. Or you can be super nice and let me know if you are even slightly intrigued by this prologue. If you just don't want to review, thanks for reading anyways!


	2. Cloud Nine

Disclaimer: I don't own Remember the Titans or any of the characters, real life people, places or events portrayed in the movie. Any events that occured in this story are fictional and are not in any way connected to any real people hopefully. The title of this chapter is a song that was sung by the Temptations, so obviously I don't own it either. The title of the first chapter was a song sung by Marmalade. I do not own VW either. I know that there was a real female equipment manager on the '71 team, so I guess I have to disclaim myself from that too. I am not making any money from this story, so please don't sue me and try to take away my Camaro. I do own Kimberley Harris and various characters in this story. In a previous life, I did own Ryan Hurst and Kip Pardue, so I guess I can deal without having them this time. ;)  
  
Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who reviewed my story or at least read it. And a special thank you to Beth Smith for being my first reviewer. Glad that "Charles" helped out Kimmy. And even though the last chapter was sad, it set some background for things to come.   
  
Technical Notes: My computer is a piece of crap, so I can't format properly. Sorry if it makes it difficult to read.  
  
Chapter Two: Cloud Nine  
  
Driving through Alexandria was surreal. It seemed as though nothing had changed. Everything familiar was exactly the same as it had been four years ago. Kimberley didn't know whether to be relieved or frightened. She knew that nothing, rather nobody could hurt her anymore, but her memory wouldn't let her forget the past.  
  
On the phone, her grandmother had spoken of the new integrated high school she would be attending, T.C. Williams. Since she knew that she was not quite ready to see anyone yet, she figured that she could check out her new school. Kimberley guided her Volkswagen down King Street  
  
**************************************************************************************  
  
"Okay, boys. Grab some water!" Coach Boone bellowed out to the team.  
  
All the Titans rushed over to the makeshift water table. As Sheryl Yoast started handing them paper cups full of ice cold water, the team began to discuss their progress and hopes for the upcoming season.  
  
"I think we have a really good chance to make it to regionals this year," Alan commented.  
  
"Baby, we're gonna go all the way! We got some serious soul power on this team," Blue said, grinning.  
  
"Now y'all know it's all me, right," Petey laughed.   
  
"Bro, I was always told pride comes before a fall. Ain't that right, Rev?" Julius nudged him.  
  
Rev was staring towards the opposite end of the field with an intense look on his face that Julius had never seen in their seventeen years of friendship. All of a sudden, Rev's face exploded into a huge grin, and he took off running.  
  
"Where's he going?" Gerry asked.  
  
They all stared as Rev ran to this girl, picked her up off her feet and spun her around in circles. Finally, he put her down and they started walking toward the group.  
  
"Wow, I didn't know Rev had a girlfriend," Louie questioned.  
  
"Is THAT his girlfriend?!" Ronnie exclaimed. "He sure got lucky".  
  
"Lucky see didn't see me first," Petey said, looking the girl up and down. "Wait, Julius...that's not...it couldn't be.."  
  
"Oh, my god," Julius said. "It's Kimberley."  
  
"Who is Kimberley?" Gerry asked. Nobody had time to answer him, because Rev and his friend had already approached the group.  
  
"Guys, this is my twin sister Kimberley Harris. Kimmy, these are the Titans. I think you might remember Petey Jones and Julius Campbell."  
  
Although she tried not to show it, Kimberley visibly stiffened at the mention of Julius' last name. She flashbacked to that horrible night when she had banged on their front door, screaming for help. Pushing the memory into the back of her mind, she smiled at the two handsome young men who had teased her so much when they were younger.  
  
"Julius, it's so good to see you," Kimberley said with a small smile.   
  
Julius hesistated for a second, and then put his arms around her. "It's good to have you back, Kim."  
  
As she pulled away, she smiled over at Petey. "Petey Jones. I thought you'd never grow up."  
  
"Well, miracles do happen every now and then," Blue chuckled as Petey and Kim hugged.  
  
Rev laughed along with the rest of the team. "This is Blue Stanton, joker and singer extroadinaire."  
  
Kim smiled and extended her hand. "Nice to meet you, Blue."  
  
"This is Alan Bosley, Louie Lastik, Ronnie Bass, who we call Sunshine, and our team captain, Gerry Bertier."  
  
Kim didn't quite know how to respond. She had eventually gotten past her hatred towards white people by living with the Lloyds, who were a white couple. They had adopted many children of different backgrounds and races. She had tried to learn to live without seeing color, but then again, this wasn't San Francisco. This was Alexandria, Virginia, where race was one of the things that always mattered.  
  
While trying figuring out a polite way to greet them without being chastised, Alan did it for her.  
  
"Hey, I'm Alan," he said,"and it's really nice to meet you. I mean, really nice, ummm, yeah..."  
  
"And I'm Ronnie." He held out his hand to Kimberley's surprise, and she shook it with a smile.  
  
"I'm Louie. Just moved here from Bayonne. So, Kim, are you gonna tell us about Rev and the magic carpet? We keep trying to get it out of him, but he won't tell us."  
  
Kim laughed and launched into the story from the happier part of her and Rev's childhood. She couldn't believe that these white guys from Virginia were so accepting of her. While she was telling the story, which Julius had witnessed but had been swore to secrecy, he looked around at his teammates. He glanced at Ronnie, who had a goofy grin on his face. Obvious crush. Petey kept giving Blue dirty looks for his comment from earlier, while Alan just stared at Kimberley. Then he glanced at Gerry, who had not said a word since Kimberley had entered the group.  
  
"What's up, Superman? You a'ight?" Julius looked at Gerry, who didn't look like he was in the universe. Julius shoved him a little, hoping he would snap out of it.  
  
"I'm fine, man," Gerry responded mechanically. He was lost in his own thoughts. He couldn't even believe he could have thoughts like this. It was one thing to be friends with a black guy, but be thinking thoughts like these about a black girl? He couldn't deny that she was gorgeous. Silky brown hair, sparkling brown eyes, a smile that could break your heart. How could he not be attracted to her? But then he started thinking about how everyone would respond. Especially his mother. She couldn't even handle him being friends with Julius. Wait a minute, what was he thinking? He was taken. He had Emma, his beautiful white girlfriend. He loved her. How could he even think of another girl?  
  
Gerry looked so miserable that Julius was actually happy that Coach Boone blew his whistle and told everyone to get back on the field. They all said goodbye to Kimberley, with the exception of Gerry, who had to be nudged yet again by Julius, and Ronnie, who practically had to be pulled off of her. Rev took Kimberley's hand and led her over to Coach Boone and Coach Yoast.  
  
"Coach Boone, Coach Yoast, I would like you to meet my twin sister Kimberley. She just moved back home from San Francisco," Rev said proudly as he introduced her.  
  
"Nice to meet you," Coach Boone replied as he shook her hand. Coach Yoast did the same.  
  
"Alright, boys. Let's get back to work," Coach Yoast said. Rev asked Kimberley if she would watch the rest of practice. Kimberley was in no hurry to head anywhere to have the serious conversation she knew was coming up, so she said yes. She sat down besides Coach Boone, who was looking over some plays.  
  
"So, Kimberley, do you know anything about football?" Coach Boone asked with one eye on the playbook and one on the field.  
  
"Not much. I was too into my dolls to pay much attention to Rev and Julius when we were little. They tried to get me to play with them, but I was never into getting dirty."  
  
Coach Boone laughed. "You sound exactly like my daughter, Nikki. Would you like to learn about the game?"  
  
"I'd love to. It might take a while to teach me though."  
  
"Are you planning on staying awhile?"  
  
Kimberley flushed. How many people knew about her past? "Yes, for the rest of the school year at least."  
  
"If you really want to learn about the game, you have to be involved with the team. How would you like to be our equipment manager?" Coach Boone asked.  
  
"Ummm, sure. I don't really know what being an 'equipment manager' is though," Kimberley replied.  
  
"It's mostly keeping track of the uniforms, pads, and balls and keeping them clean. You would be required to come to the practices and home games. You would also have to travel with the team to all the away games to make sure everything stays in order. The job is yours if you want it," Coach Boone explained.  
  
Kimberley thought it over. It didn't sound too hard, and it would be fun to hang out with Rev. "Sure, Coach. It sounds like fun."  
  
"Alright. You can start after school on Monday," Coach Boone stated. Then he excused himself, and started working on some offensive plays with the team.  
  
Kimberley was excited. She already started thinking about what it would be like hanging out with all these guys. It would be like she already had a built in social circle. Plus, she wouldn't mind hanging out a littl more personally with some of the guys. As she scanned the field, her eyes came to rest on number 42. Even she didn't know much about sports, she knew this guy was one of the best athletes she had seen. Kimberley followed him with her eyes, and when he finally took off his helmet, she recognized the face. It was Gerry, the guy who hadn't spoken to her.  
  
Wow, I sure wish he would have talked to me, she thought. He was gorgeous. She could definetely get to know him better. The only problem was, he was was white. Kimberley had one rule when it came to dating: No white guys. Although she couldn't deny he was handsome, she quickly pushed the thoughts from her mind.  
  
Kimberley decided it was time to focus on the practice. After all, she had a job to learn.  
  
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This chapter admittedly isn't the best, but I wanted to get the ball rolling somehow. Plus, I wanted to have a light hearted chapter before I dealt with some more drama. So please R/R and tell me your ideas! I am not sure exactly who to set up Kimberley with, so let me know who you think it should be. 


	3. Riders On The Storm

Disclaimer: I don't own Remember the Titans or any of the characters, real life people, places or events portrayed in the movie. Any events that occured in this story are fictional and are not in any way connected to any real people hopefully. The title of this chapter is a song that was sung by the Doors, so I obviously don't own it. I am not making any money from this story, so please don't sue me and try to take away my Camaro. I do own Kimberley Harris and various characters in this story, mostly the ones whose names you don't recognize. I do not own Ryan Hurst or Kip Pardue, but their clones are hidden underneath my bed....  
  
Author's Notes: Sorry it took me so long to update. I was in Montana trying to find a job so I can leave the hell that is known as southern Oregon. Then I got back and I got disgustingly sick. Anyways, thanks for all my reviews!   
  
Technical Notes: My computer is still a piece of crap. Sorry if it's difficult to read. Oh, yeah...bad language alert! You are all gonna think that Kimberley is incredibly paranoid by then end of this chapter, but wouldn't you be?  
  
Chapter 3: Riders On The Storm  
  
As Rev changed after practice, he couldn't help but smile. His sister had actually came back to Alexandria. It was the answer to his four years of prayer. Although he was probably the happiest guy in Alexandria right now, Rev felt as though he couldn't focus on anything, including the practice. He was lucky he had even remembered what a veer was. If it wasn't for Louie covering up his mistakes, he knew he would be out there running at least ten miles. All he had wanted to do was take Kimberley home, chain her to the house, and never let her out of his sight again. He was also incredibly greatful to Coach Boone for making Kimberley equipment manager. He knew that she would be safe with him.  
  
He wasn't sure about her being safe with the other guys though. Rev knew that the most of the guys would never hurt her in any way, but he also knew that Kimberley was sensitive when it came to any male. The jokes and teasing wouldn't bother her - she had grown up getting picked on by Julius and Petey. Kimberley didn't trust guys, as she had said in her letter, and she hadn't dated anyone. But by the conversations swirling around him, he knew that Kimberley had the attention of most of the guys on the team.  
  
"So, y'all, we got a girl equipment manager. I always thought it was supposed to be some nerd who wasn't good enough to be on the team," Dave Ford said with a smirk.  
  
"You know she's good enough to be on the team. Hell, we could just stand the sister on the line of scrimmage and walk past the linebackers. I can't believe that a girl that pretty would even want to be on the team. She looks like a cheerleader to me," Jerry Buck said.  
  
"I would love to see her in a short skirt jumping up and down, mmm hmm," Dave grinned.  
  
"Since she is on the team, does she get to shower with us too?" Jerry joked.   
  
Ronnie, just getting into the locker room, had heard the last two remarks about Kimberley. He glanced over at Rev, who for probably the first time in his life was about to lose his temper.   
  
"Guys, this is Rev's sister you're talking about. She is not some stupid cheerleader you can get in the backseat of your car on the first date," Ronnie said. "She is a part of this team and deserves to be treated and spoken about with respect. So give it a rest."  
  
After Ronnie's words set in, both of them looked embarrassed. "Sorry, Rev," they said in unison.  
  
"It's ok guys. You didn't mean no harm," Rev said with a slightly irritated smile.  
  
As Jerry and Dave walked out of the locker room, Ronnie looked over to Rev. "You ok, bro?" he questioned.  
  
"Yeah, it's ok. No big deal, it's just typical guy talk. Nothing to get upset about," Rev sighed.  
  
Ronnie came up to him and slung his arm around Rev's shoulders. " Good. So, bro...is your sister dating anyone?"  
  
Real subtle Sunshine, Rev thought to himself. "Actually, Sunshine, I don't know. That's something you're gonna have to find out for yourself."  
  
Ronnie grinned. "So, there's not like, any problem with me askin' her out? I know this can be a real sensitive subject for brothers. If you're not cool with it, I understand."  
  
"It's cool. I can't think of a guy who I would like to date my sister more," Rev stated. Truthfully, there wasn't a better guy than Sunshine. He was nice, polite, and a "good kisser" Gerry had told him jokingly. Rev just wasn't sure if Kimberley could handle dating any guy, not to mention a white guy. But if she did date anyone, it would most likely be Sunshine.   
  
"Thanks, bro," Ronnie said as he headed towards the showers.  
  
* * *  
  
As if in a daze, Kimberley paced around the freshly paved parking lot. As happy as Rev had seemed to see her, she still didn't know how her grandmother was going to react. They had not been particularly close while Kimberley and Rev were growing up. She had always seemed to favor Rev more, which was understandable, since he was the spitting image of their father. Kimberley looked like her mother, which was a sore subject around her grandmother. She had always blamed their mother for her son's death. In reality, it was her mother who had tried to stop him from going down to Birmingham. Kimbereley's earliest memory was of her grandmother fighting over her and Rev staying with their mother after she had married their stepfather. Her grandmother said that she would not let her late son's children be subjected to "a man of his nature". She had certainly been right about him. Maybe she had seen it all coming, but she wasn't the type of woman to let her granchildren's mother die, was she?  
  
While trying to stop her thoughts from wandering, she noticed a bunch of the guys coming out of the locker room. Two of the guys just smiled and nudged each other as they walked past her. Most of them just simply nodded in her direction. After watching twenty or more of them file past her, she spotted Rev with the tall blonde guy from California, and the handsome muscular captain.  
  
As soon as Gerry spotted Kimberley, he started heading in the opposite direction. He still wasn't sure what to say to her. Just the thought of speaking to her made him feel guilty. He knew he couldn't do anything wrong if he didn't say anything.  
  
"I'll see you later guys," Gerry called out to them as he walked over to his gold Camaro.  
  
"Hey, sis," Rev said to her teasingly. Kimberley had always hated being called that.  
  
"Hey, St. Jerry," Kimberley shot back.   
  
"I thought I told you not to call me that!"  
  
"In case you had forgotten, "Sis" is not my favorite term either."  
  
Rev smiled. "How could I? Hey, I forgot my Bible in my locker. Be right back."  
  
Kimberley pretended to fall over. "YOU forgot your BIBLE!? What the fuck, I mean hell, damn, ummm, HECK happened to you?"  
  
"Well I obviously didn't develop the obscene mouth that you did!" Rev yelled over his shoulder as he headed in the direction of the locker rooms.  
  
Kimberley let out a sigh as Ronnie laughed. She jumped, startled at the fact that he was here. She had completely forgotten about him.  
  
"I never thought anyone could swear that much in one sentence around Rev and not hear a thirty minute lecture," Ronnie said. "Up at camp, Blue said "shit" and I thought Rev was gonna have a heart attack."  
  
"Don't be too disappointed. I'm sure I'll hear all about it when we get home," Kimberley sighed.  
  
"So, I heard you were living in San Francisco. I just moved here from Huntington Beach. I got why you left. I mean, the weather and stuff... you know," Ronnie rambled on and on.  
  
Kimberley had never felt so uncomfortable in her life. She had no idea what details of her life were still secrets. Obviously she couldn't hide them from Julius or Petey, but a white guy who had moved here less than a month ago knew her whole history? She felt like jumping back in her car and leaving, but running away hadn't helped her before. Slowly, she started to feel angry, like there was nothing she could do but let people think the worst of her. Finally, she realized that Ronnie was staring at her, like he was waiting for an answer.  
  
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Kimberley asked quickly.  
  
Ronnie shrugged his shoulders a little bit and repeated his question. "Would you like to go out sometime? It wouldn't have to be right away, maybe after our first game next Friday? We could get to know each other better, maybe talk about Cal-"  
  
Kimberley exploded in his face. "You want to take me out? Why? Because of what you heard from everyone else?"  
  
Shock spread over Ronnie's face. He had been turned down by girls before, but not like this. He qiuckly smiled and moved a little closer to her. "Well, yeah. Seems like we would have a lot in common. We like the same things."  
  
"You can forget about what you heard. I'm not like that. So leave me the fuck alone!" Kimberley screamed into his face.  
  
"Alright." Ronnie's face clouded over, and he just shook his head and walked off.  
  
Kimberley got into the driver's seat of her VW, hugged the steering wheel and started to cry. She thought that Rev understood the reason she left. She didn't want what had just happened now to happen at all. But her own family couldn't be cruel enough to drag here back here just to be humilated. Why would they do it now?  
  
"Kimmy, are you ready-what happened? Where's Sunshine?" Rev asked with a look of concern as he got into the car.  
  
"I don't want to talk about it. Let's just go." Kimberley started the car, and drove out of the parking lot.  
  
"Let's talk about it now. Did Ronnie say something wrong?" Rev asked gently.   
  
"No, Rev. It's not HIS fault. He probably thought I'd be easy. You know, from all the stories you told him about me," Kimberley said as she brushed away a tear.   
  
"What?! I told the guys about you, but no one knows about what happened that night with Lenny. Not one of the guys even knows about any of that night except for Julius. It's part of my life too, Kimberley. You aren't the only one who was hurt. " Rev paused after this, waiting for Kimberley to say something. When she didn't, Rev continued. "How could you even think that I could purposely hurt you, or say those things about my own sister?"  
  
Kimberley drove the rest of the way to the 'Burg in silence. Once they got to the street where their house was, she pulled over and turned to face Rev. She laid her head down on his shoulder. "Sorry. It's just so hard. I don't know, it's just so hard, and I..."  
  
"Shhh, it's ok." Rev put his arm around her while she cried. She had done the same for him many times when they were younger. They would huddle together in his bed, trying to block out the sounds of their mother screaming downstairs. Even when there wasn't anyone to take him to the hospital, she would just sit beside him, and let him scream until the pain subsided. She had always been the strong one, not crying for anything.   
  
Finally, Kimberley raised her head and smiled softly at her brother. "I can't believe I let myself have those crazy thoughts. I should have known better."  
  
"It's okay. Hate to bring it up right when you're feeling better, but we have dinner in about half an hour. We need to go and face the music," Rev sighed with an exaggerated breath.  
  
Kimberley groaned. "Well, let's just get it over with. You have to stay with me while she talks? I don't want to freak out on her."  
  
Rev gave her a stern look, which quickly turned into a grin. "Alright, but just give her a chance. She does love you, you know."  
  
Holding in her sarcastic response, Kimberley started the car and headed up the street. She does love me, she thought. How bad could it be?  
  
* * *  
  
Whew, glad that's over. I don't know if I want to just quickly summarize Kimberley and her grandmother's talk and go straight to the first day of school, or go into more detail. Let me know what you think I should do. 


	4. Rainy Days And Mondays, Part One

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Remember the Titans or any of the characters, real life people, places or events portrayed in the movie. Any events that occured in this story are fictional and are not in any way connected to any real people hopefully. The title of this chapter is a song that was sung by the Carpenters, so I obviously don't own it. I am not making any money from this story, so please don't sue me and try to take away my Camaro. The expression "rage blackout" belongs to "The O.C." and Fox. I do own Kimberley Harris and various characters in this story, mostly the ones whose names you don't recognize. I do not own Ryan Hurst or Kip Pardue, but I do own some great fantasies with them included...  
  
**Author's Notes:** I decided to skip the big long drama between Kimberley and her grandmother. If I don't start summarizing this story, it's gonna be 84,000 chapters long. I know that I haven't updated in forever, but I got slightly sidetracked by The OC. It's just so shiny and sparkly. But this will always be my first love.  
  
**Reviews:** I love me some reviews. Have I told you all that I love you lately? And since **Scary McAllister** was wondering what happened to Lana, tada! She's back! I also thought I would clear up exactly who Kimmy will, ummm, like. Details on who and why below. But there's always a surprise!  
  
**Technical Notes:** Quick Edit is the Shit!  
  
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_Chapter 4: Rainy Days and Mondays, Part One_

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On the day before school started, the heavens opened up and produced the only rain of the summer. Kimberley hated rain. It made her irritable and impossible to deal with. When Rev woke her up to get ready for church, she yelled at him. At church, she refused to smile at anyone or sing along with the choir. When they had all returned home, she skipped lunch and went straight back to bed. When she had woken up, the sun was beginning to peek out from behind the clouds, and there was a gorgeous sunset. But her mood had still not changed.  
  
The talk with her grandmother had gone much better than expected. She hadn't yelled, lectured, or chastised her. In fact, the first thing she had done was hug her so hard she almost stopped breathing. Then they had all sat down for a nice dinner, and Kimberley told them about the Lloyds and the beauty of San Francisco. After dinner, Rev and their grandmother cleaned up, while she went upstairs to take a long bath. Then after saying goodnight, Kimberley fell into the soft, old-fashioned canopied bed that she had loved to nap on as a child. She slept better than she had since she couldn't remember.  
  
Everything changed the next morning. As soon as she went downstairs for breakfast, her grandmother had started making extreme demands and rules about what she could do and who she could do it with. She wasn't allowed to go out anywhere without Rev. She also wasn't about to let her granddaughter pick up after football players. Kimberley almost flipped out when she was told that she wasn't going to be hanging out with a group of boys, but Rev had thankfully saved the day by convincing their grandmother to let her.  
  
Staring out the window of her room, she wondered how school would be. This integration stuff was gonna be a pain in the ass. She had never had to deal with it. When she had lived in Alexandria before, the schools were segregated. In San Francisco, the schools were integrated. Now she was going to have a bunch of redneck assholes screaming in her face. Kimberley always wondered how people could be so closeminded when they were just a few miles from Washington D.C. But as everyone had always said, this is Virginia.  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted by knocking. Rev turned his head sideways to peek around the door.   
  
"Are you okay? You didn't seem too happy this morning."  
  
Kimberley opened her mouth, thought better of it and motioned for Rev to come in.  
  
Rev shut the door and sat down on the bed. "I know this is driving you crazy."  
  
Kimberley rolled her eyes. "I just have to get used to the parenting. I mean, I don't think that I've ever had structure and rules and someone to answer to. Isn't this what the Nazis went through?"  
  
"It's not dictatorship. It's love. She's sick, and she just wants her granddaughter to not leave again."  
  
Kimberley didn't respond. Rev decided not to push her further and quickly changed the subject.  
  
"So, what do you think about the team? The guys?"  
  
Kimberley shrugged. "I don't know. Julius seemed cool, and Petey still seemed obnoxious. Well, not exactly obnoxious, since he didn't call me 'Kimmy, Kimmy, two-by-four'."  
  
Rev's face clouded over. "Sorry, don't even think about that. You're not fat."  
  
Kimberley sighed. "Well, not anymore. Speaking of larger people, Blue and Louie seemed nice. Loud, but in a good way."  
  
Rev laughed. "Hope you like lots of singing. On the way home from camp that's all they did. For three straight hours."   
  
He paused, trying to figure out the right way to ask what he really wanted to know. "What about the other guys?"  
  
Kimberley knew exactly what he was getting at. "So, what you're asking is did I find any of them attractive?"  
  
Rev shifted uncomfortably. "Maybe. Alan thought that you were gorgeous. You know Sunshine likes you. Gerry has a girlfriend."  
  
Kimberley's stomach dropped. _Of course Gerry has a girlfriend_, she thought. _He's the goddamn captain of the football team.  
_  
"Am I like, required to date a football player?"  
  
"Quit avoiding the question," Rev grinned.  
  
Kimberley dropped her face into her hands. "Okay. But this is private. Deal?"  
  
Rev nodded. "Deal."  
  
Kimberley groaned. "Alan is adorable, but seems a little too innocent. I messed up things with Ronnie, so I don't think he likes me too much anymore. I didn't talk to Gerry, but as you said, he has a girlfriend. So, I think you are safe to assume that your sister is not gonna be hooking up with one of your friends."  
  
"So, you like Sunshine. Just apologize, and the whole thing will be forgotten. You can't help but like the guy. He kissed Gerry at camp, and Gerry forgave him after a day or two," Rev said.  
  
"He kissed him? Like, on the mouth? Seriously?" Kimberley was shocked. She even forgot to deny that she liked Ronnie.  
  
"Yeah, the whole thing started when-"  
  
"Jerald James and Kimberley Grace! Bed, now! You have school tomorrow!" their grandmother bellowed from downstairs.  
  
Rev got up and smiled. "Trust me. Talk to him and explain tomorrow. He'll understand. Love you. Goodnight."  
  
"Love you too."  
  
Kimberley shut off her light and crawled into bed. She cringed, remembering that Rev knew she liked Ronnie. He didn't know how she felt about Gerry, or at least he hadn't acknowledged it. Closing her eyes, she let her mind drift back to San Francisco and Tom. Tom had also worked at the diner, and had become her first friend. Kimberley had been scared of him at first, because she was still deluding herself into thinking that older white men had only wanted one thing from her. After he had spent a whole day trying to make her laugh at his corny jokes, she finally broke down. After a few days of conversing, they became fast friends.  
  
They had never dated. Kimberley was almost seven years younger than him, so it wouldn't have been right. Although she would barely admit it to herself, she had a crush on him. Tom was very much how she thought Ronnie to be. Laid back, happy, and popular. As luck would have it, he looked almost exactly like Gerry, except he had dark hair. One day, out of nowhere, he enlisted in the Army and disappeared to Vietnam. He broke her heart by not saying goodbye. She never heard from him again.   
  
Rolling over to dispell her thoughts, she let a single tear fall as sleep closed in on her.

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"You can't park there."  
  
_This is not going to be a good day_, Kimberley thought. It already wasn't a good day. This morning, her grandmother had been appalled by her simple outfit of jeans and a Berkeley t-shirt. She had insisted that she go change into something "more ladylike", so Kimberley ran upstairs, changed into a blue plaid skirt and blue turtleneck. While trying to dig in her suitcase for her other wooden clog, she tore her pantyhose, tossed them aside and decided to go without. Kimberley then ran down the stairs, grabbed Rev by the shirt and hurried out the front door before she received another fashion critique.  
  
Protesters swarmed around the entrance of T.C. Williams like killer bees. Kimberley weaved through them, while Rev tried to shield both of them from the pieces of trash being showered upon them. Finally, they reached the student parking lot. Rev had jumped out, saying he had a meeting. So now she was by herself, surrounded by strangers, angry protesters, and some snotty girl in a cheerleading uniform that said she couldn't park in one of the last empty parking spaces.  
  
"Why not?" Kimberley asked grouchily.  
  
"These spots are reserved for football players and cheerleaders. Are you a cheerleader?" the girl shot back.  
  
"No, I don't think I'm easy enough to be one," Kimberley replied with a smirk.  
  
"Who do you think you are?"  
  
"You don't know?"  
  
"Should I?"  
  
"You should, since I'm the girl who's gonna be kicking your ass!"  
  
Just as Kimberley started to lunge at the cheerleader, she felt a pair of hands surround her waist. It was Alan. Blue had already started to hold back the other girl.  
  
"Let me go, Alan!" Kimberley screamed.  
  
"Blue, this girl tried to attack me!" the cheerleader whined.  
  
"Kimberley, calm down," Alan said softly into her ear, which sent shivers up Kimberley's spine. She pushed him away, trying to regain her strength.   
  
"Kimberley? Like, Kimberley Harris?" the cheerleader said with a questioning look on her face.  
  
"Yeah, Lana. Is that any way to treat our manager?" Blue said, relieved that they had calmed down.  
  
"Lana Kane?" Kimberley whispered. Both of the girls' faces broke into smiles as they pushed Alan and Blue aside to hug each other.  
  
"Man, I'll never understand women," Alan grinned as he shook his head in disbelief.

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_Please review. It makes me want to write more. Love you all!_


	5. Rainy Days And Mondays, Part Two

**Author's Notes:** After you read and review, go and check out **A Different World by gooseles. **It's a good story, as are ALL her other ones, and it's redonkulous that I am one of the only reviewers. If you can't post a review, then e-mail her and tell her what you think! You won't be sorry!

**Reviews:** Thanks! Some notes below to my reviewers. **Spoiler alert!**

**---Scary MacAllistar/McAllister **- No way! Your suggestions were awesome! Thank you! I love your ideas, and I'm glad someone remembered about Lana. Please keep reviewing!

**---Bethie** - Loves ya. That's all I got to say.

**---mean-kitty-gurl** - Glad you like it.

**---remember the titans fan** - Don't worry. !**spoiler **Gerry will not be the one cheating!** /spoiler !**

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_Chapter 5: Rainy Days and Mondays, Part Two_

After Alan and Blue left, the two girls leaned against the hood of Kimberley's car, talking as though they hadn't seen each other in a week, instead of almost four years.

"So, when did you get back?" Lana asked.

"Friday afternoon. The drive was hell. So you know, I'm sorry about freaking out on you. I sometimes have these rage blackouts," Kimberley stated nonchalantly.

Lana hugged Kimberley again, and looked into her eyes. "I missed you, girl. I know you had your reasons, and I'm not gonna ask you to tell me. That is history. I need to know though, how the hell are you the manager of the football team?"

Kimberley laughed. "Long story." She spotted Ronnie getting out of a car, and her heart skipped a beat. "But I'm gonna have to tell you later. Tell you at lunch?"

Lana shrugged, but she sounded disappointed. "Sounds good. See you later."

Lana ran off to catch up with her other friends. Kimberley pushed her way past the angry people shouting to catch up to Ronnie. Inside the building, she saw him standing next to the giant map of the school, studying it. Kimberley slowly walked over to Ronnie. As soon as he saw her, he frowned. She thought he was going to turn and walk away, but he just stood there and stared at her.

Kimberley swallowed hard as she got closer to him. When she was about ten feet away from him, she stopped and looked down at her feet. "Ronnie? Could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure."

As she plead for forgiveness, her eyes started to fill with tears. "Look, I was a bitch on Friday. I know you are mad at me. I am so sorry I freaked out on you. I was totally out of line, and I want to apologize. You were just trying to be nice to me, and I, I am just so sorry."

Ronnie studied her for a second, then went over to her and gave her a quick hug. "It's okay. I'm not mad at you. I was more mad at myself."

"For what?"

"I should have given you some space. I mean, you just got home, you had to start learning about football. I was mad at myself for being a jerk, but I felt twice as bad for not getting you to go out with me."

Before Kimberley could respond, the first bell rang. "Oh, shit. I have to register, get my schedule, find my locker and my first class in ten minutes!"

Ronnie grinned and threw his arm around her shoulder. "Relax. As a kid who has done this many times, you can calm down. We have orientation. Come on, we'll go together. Louie should be there too."

Ronnie's arm around her, plus the sheer nearness of him made her deliriously happy, but their was something misssing. Ronnie looked down at her, and noticed that she seemed to be searching for someone. _Please don't let it be another guy_, Ronnie thought. _I don't need to repeat last year_. Despite the ignorant comments and looks they received, Kimberley and Ronnie made their way to the gym.

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Kimberley glanced at her schedule. Whoever decided to give her Trigonometry, World History, and Physics for the first three periods would never want to admit it to her face. Her next four periods were simple: AP English, Spanish, Government, and Study Hall. She glanced over at Ronnie, who looked as thrilled as she felt. "How bad is yours?"

"Terrible in the morning, great in the afternoon."

"Me too. Couldn't they just break it up a little? You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, because I'm not awake before lunch, and then I get lazy after eating. So, are any of our classes the same?"

Kimberley looked over their schedules. "We have World History and Study Hall together."

Ronnie smiled. "At least I have something to look forward to."

Kimberley blushed. Ronnie noticed, and opened his mouth to say something, when he was interrupted by Petey.

"Sunshine! This place is insane, bro." Noticing Kimberley, Petey looked her up and down, and his eyes came to rest on hers. "Miss Harris. I must say that you filled, I mean _turned _out quite nicely."

Kimberley glared at him, and then smacked him hard on the shoulder. "I almost beat up a cheerleader this morning, so I'm feeling pretty confident that I could take you."

Petey grimaced while Ronnie burst out laughing. "Ouch."

"Ouch is right. When did you get so mean?" Petey questioned. "By the way, which cheerleader?"

Kimberley sighed. "Lana Kane. We didn't know who the other one was. We're cool now. We're eating lunch together."

"No, you're not," Ronnie and Petey said in unison.

"Okay, except that I am."

"You can't."

"Why?" Kimberley questioned as Julius and Gerry walked up behind them.

"Hey guys," Julius said, "and girls. What's going on?"

"Kimmy thinks that she's eating lunch with your girlfriend today," Petey complained.

"Which I am," Kimberley said.

Gerry stood there, trying to make out the words they were saying, but his mind couldn't focus on anything but Kimberley. He had been thinking about her all weekend. Sunshine had told him and the guys about how she had flipped out on him after he had tried to ask her out. Nobody could seem to figure out why, but from the look on Julius' face, Gerry knew he was holding something back. Later that night, Julius had told him what he knew about why Kimberley had left and why she was back. Gerry was impressed with her strength, and that made him like her even more. Apparently, she and Sunshine had made up, seeing as how they were standing so close. This bothered him, although he wasn't quite sure why. It also made him wonder how closeminded his own girlfriend could be. Kimberley had been through so much, yet she was forgiving and apologetic. No one had ever done anything to Emma, and she hated black people. She couldn't even shake his new friends' hand. He couldn't believe that his own girlfriend had been that ignorant. Julius nudged him, snapping him out of his own thoughts.

"Tell her, Bertier. We agreed that on the first day, the whole team would eat together. Since she's part of the team, she has to. Right?" Julius said.

Gerry blinked a few times, then smiled at Kimberley. "Right. As team captain, I insist that you eat with the rest of us."

Kimberley looked at Gerry, as if she was in a dream, and then snapped back into reality. "Okay, but you're," pointing at Julius, "going to explain to Lana why I had to ditch out on her. Okay?"

"Deal." Kimberley and Julius shook on it as the bell rang. Orientation had taken up the homeroom time today.

Kimberley glanced around nervously. "Does anyone else have Mr. Hynde for trig right now?"

Petey nodded. "Yep."

Gerry laughed, which caught everyone's attention. "Did you pick up the wrong schedule, man? Are you sure it says 'Petey Jones' at the top?"

Everyone laughed, except for Petey. "Come on, Kimmy. What they don't realize is that Rev, you and I are the only juniors in the class. Y'all are jealous!"

Kimberley whispered, "Something to look forward to" in Ronnie's ear quickly while the other guys laughed at Petey's indignation. As she and Petey were walking away, she looked back at Ronnie, who was still standing there smiling. _Most definetely something to look forward to_, she thought.

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Kimberley smiled to herself. Today had gone much better than expected. Once the protesters had cleared out, things calmed down considerably at school. Instead of the everyone fighting, everyone ignored each other. It wasn't exactly better, but it was a lot more pleasant and quiet. There was a minor heated argument about where people were sitting at lunch, with a few kids trying to keep the room segregated. Gerry and Julius had simply pushed their way between the fight and quietly slid two of the lunchroom tables together to accomodate the team. The kids fighting fell silent as did the whole student body as the members of the football team, black and white, came together and sat down in the middle of the segregated room. As the team sat down, Gerry and Julius stood side by side, staring down everyone, daring them to say anything. Finally, everyone decided to ignore them, and lunch resumed.

Throwing her books in her locker, Kimberley made her way to the coaches' office. Once there she knocked quietly on the door, and slowly stepped inside. Coach Hines and Coach Boone were already on the field, but Coach Yoast had been working on something last minute. Beside him was a little girl with beautiful curly blonde hair wearing grubby jeans and a green t-shirt. He smiled when he saw Kimberley.

"Well, hello Miss Harris. Are you ready to start your football education?" Coach Yoast asked with a smile.

Kimberley's smile faded slightly. "Ummm, I think so. I am just not sure how everything is going to work. I can't go into the locker room, so I'm gonna have to wait for the guys to finish changing-"

Coach Yoast held up his hand. "You don't have to worry about that. We have two guys who are going to be in the locker room and they are also gonna be the ones transporting the equipment. You just need to make sure that we have everything before we leave somewhere, and that everything is put up after practice. Here's your checklist of all the equipment." He handed her a clipboard and a pen.

Kimberley breathed a sigh of relief, but felt slightly confused. "If the two guys are going to be doing that, why am I here?"

Coach Yoast grinned. "They had this job last year at Hammond, and we lost five full sets of pads, eight jerseys, and a huge amount of equipment. We need someone responsible. We also need someone to keep stats of the game, since Jim and Phil will be busy with other things during the games."

Kimberley froze. "But I don't know how to take stats! I don't even know the difference between halfback and fullback!"

"It's okay. You don't have anything to worry about," Coach Yoast replied calmly. "Meet your trainer...Sheryl Yoast."

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Well, hope you liked it. Please review, and please check out _any_ of Gooseles' work!


	6. Story In Your Eyes

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Remember The Titans or any of the characters, real life people, places or events portrayed in the movie. Any events that occurred in this story are fictional and are not connected to any real people hopefully. The title of this chapter is a song that was sung by Moody Blues, so I obviously don't own it. I am not making any money from this story, so please don't sue me and try to take away my Camaro. I do own Kimberley Harris and various characters in this story, mostly the ones whose name you don't recognize. I do not own Ryan Hurst or Kip Pardue, but someday….

**Author's Notes:** Yes, I know that I am horrible for making you wait this long for an update. There was a guy, then there was moving, then no computer, then MORE moving. Excuses, I know. Thanks for sticking with me.

**Reviews:** Have I told you all how much I love you? Too many shoutouts to mention, but much thanks to everyone. I also put in a little something extra for **Nikki**!

**Technical Notes: **I hate this new formatting stuff.

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Chapter 6: Story In Your Eyes

Kimberley looked up into the stands and shook her head. Although the team had won their first game, no one had seemed too excited about it except for the players and the coaches. She was excited too, because all of Sheryl's hard work had paid off. As she headed to the outside entrance to the locker rooms, she heard the guys celebrating inside. Petey had definitely been the star of the game and was now making sure everyone knew it.

"Oh yeah! Petey Jones, football hero!" he shouted to anyone who would listen. As Petey walked out into the breezeway, he spotted Kimberley leaning against the wall with an irritated look on her face. He walked up to her and threw his arm around her..

"Miss Harris, what's wrong with you?"

Kimberley started tapping her foot impatiently. "Do you know if Jim and Phil are done? It's almost been an hour, and-"

"Calm down, sweetness. They're almost done. Now, let's discuss when we are going out. Is tomorrow night good for you?"

As Kimberley rolled her eyes, Ronnie and Gerry walked out the locker room together. Ronnie glared at Petey, and was just about to say something before he was interrupted by Gerry.

"Man, get off her. If you have to hit on your teammates, try it on someone who actually likes you. Dave might be interested," Gerry scowled. Petey dropped his arm immediately and glanced at Ronnie. Then Gerry started to realize what he'd said. _Where the heck did that come from?_he thought.

Rev, Julius, Blue and Alan heard the end of Gerry's sentence as they walked out of the locker room. Julius threw a protective arm around Kimberley, and decided to quickly change the subject when he felt her flinch. "So, are you going to Lana's all night girl fest, or are you gonna hang out downtown with your teammates?"

Kimberley rolled her eyes. "Neither. I am officially chained to the house. Seriously."

"Kimmy, it's not that bad-," Rev started to explain.

"Do YOU have a curfew?"

"Well, no but…"

"Exactly."

Julius rolled his eyes, and grabbed Rev before they started one of their fights. Ronnie laughed as the rest of the guys followed. He leaned against the wall next to Kimberley and locked eyes with her. "Do you need a ride or anything? My dad let me use the car tonight."

Even though she trusted him, she still felt uncomfortable. "Ummm, I brought my car, so I'm just gonna go before I get into more trouble." She moved out away from the wall.

Ronnie stopped her. "Do you wanna do something this weekend? We could just hang out, Rev could come with us-"

"Ronnie, I'm sorry." She saw the hurt look in his eyes, and changed her mind. "Give me a call this weekend. Ask for Rev."

Kimberley looked up at Ronnie and smiled. Before she could change her mind again, she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek and hurried off before he could speak.

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Kimberley sat up in bed gasping. It was the dream again. Lenny's alcoholic breath on her face, her mother gasping for air, her father's picture hitting the floor. Feeling unprotected in the darkness, she turned on her bedside lamp and looked at the clock. 11:30. She had only been asleep thirty minutes.

Her grandmother was awake when she got home, but in her room. Kimberley could hear her coughing horribly. She was getting progressively worse, but it only showed at night. Kimberley didn't know what to say or do since she got yelled at for everything, so she just left it alone and went upstairs.

Her room was silent as Kimberley tiptoed down the stairs. She slipped out the front door noiselessly into the warm Virginia night air. The stillness felt comfortably familiar. She sat on the front porch, and listened to the reassuring peacefulness. She heard footsteps, and quickly turned to go inside, then noticed who it was.

"Gerry?"

He froze. "Hey Kimberley."

Gerry always called her Kimberley, not "Kim" or "Kimmy". Not that they talked much. Mostly about football, and he would say "Hi" to her in the halls at school. She collected her thoughts, and asked, " What are you doing all the way out here?"

"I just felt like walkin'."

Feeling totally awkward , she turned to go back inside. "Well, goodnight."

"Hey, could I ask you a question?" Gerry asked quietly.

Kimberly turned around. "Sure."

"How can you be friends with people who you've know your whole life when…They aren't bad people, but they just don't get it. They make bad decisions."

Kimberley walked closer to the gate. "Everyone makes bad decisions. Except Rev. You have to remember why you liked them in the first place, and If it's worth it. Then again, maybe they don't deserve a friend like you, but you can help who you love, right?"

Gerry held her gaze. "No, you can't."

Kimberley held her breath. There had to be more.

"Kimberley, I know that you and Sunshine have something going, but-"

The Allen's dog at the end of the block started barking, signaling that Rev was coming. "That's Rev," Kimberley sighed. "Do you want to wait?"

"No, that's okay. Goodnight, Kimberley," Gerry said shaking his head. _You almost blew it, you jerk_, he thought to himself. He started to walk away, then turned back.

"Thank you."

* * *

"Mmm, Alan."

They were in the locker room. Alan was slowly unbuttoning her shirt and kissing her neck. She looked up into his eyes, and then the fire alarm started going off. Brrrring! Brrrring!

The phone woke Kimberley up. She rolled over and sighed. _I really need to calm down my hormone_s, she thought. _And you know what else? I am going to date whoever I like, white or black._

She could hear Rev's voice in the hall. "She's still sleeping. No, I'm not mad. You wouldn't do anything like that on purpose. Just be careful. Yeah, I'll have her call you." He paused. "No, I'm not busy later. Call Blue and Louie, and I'll call Petey. Bye."

Kimberley put on her robe and walked into the hall. "Who was that?" she asked innocently.

"So you kissed Sunshine, huh?" Rev grinned.

"Shhh!" Kimberley looked downstairs to see if her grandmother was around. "If she hears that, I will never leave this house again."

"Well?"

"Yeah, I did. On the cheek. No big deal."

Rev grinned. "Oh, yes it is. He was smiling so hard, I thought his cheeks were going to explode. He almost bought everyone dinner." Rev paused.

"Then he remembered who he was with?" Kim laughed.

Rev got serious. "Something like that. He tried to go into Hal's."

Kimberly grimaced. "Oh, my gosh. I'm sure he was his usual charming self."

"Everyone got an earful, even Sunshine. Petey was so upset, I didn't think he was gonna make it home. I was even a little miffed, but that was Ronnie's first taste of life in Virginia. It wasn't his fault," Rev said quietly.

"I know it wasn't," Kimberley said.

"Mmm-hmm. So, are you gonna call Sunshine back so he can quit waiting by the phone? And don't worry about it, I got you covered."

"What are you talking about?"

Rev walked down the stairs, ignoring her.

"Okay," Kimberley said. She went into her room, found Ronnie's number on the team roster sheet, and went back to make the call. The phone was closest to Rev's room, so she shut the door while she waited for Ronnie to pick up.

"Hello?"

Kimberley smiled. "Hi."

Ronnie let out a breath. "Hey, I was hoping you'd call." He cleared his throat. "Would you like to go out with me tonight?"

_So that's what he was talking about, she thought._ "That would be great. Except for my brother tagging along."

Ronnie laughed. "This is more of a group thing. It's just the guys, you and Lana."

Kimberley was confused. "What about Gerry? Doesn't he have a girlfriend?"

Ronnie paused. "They broke up last night. She refused to hang out with anyone who was black."

Kimberley exhaled. So that's what the question was about. But what was he going to say about her and Ronnie?

"Well. I don't know what to say," Kimberley said.

"Say yes o eight o'clock?" Ronnie pleaded.

Kimberley laughed. "I'll see you then."

* * *

_Yes, I love you too. Please review for me._


	7. Tired Of Being Alone

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Remember the Titans or any of the characters, real life people, places or events portrayed in the movie. Any events that occured in this story are fictional and are not in any way connected to any real people hopefully. The title of this chapter is a song that was sung by Al Green, so I obviously don't own it. I also don't own Harold and Maude, except on dvd. I am not making any money from this story, so please don't sue me and try to take away my Camaro. I do own Kimberley Harris and various characters in this story, mostly the ones whose names you don't recognize. I do not own Ryan Hurst or Kip Pardue, but I will...

**Author's Notes:** Okay, you all should know by now that I am the worst person when it comes to updating. I thought that I would just go ahead and let the story go, but everytime I see this movie I write a little more and I finally have enough for this chapter! Guess I'm gonna have to watch it every day from now on, huh?

**Reviews:** I love you all, and I want to thank everyone for sticking with this story. I really don't deserve it, but please don't leave me! Ain't too proud to beg!

**Technical Notes:** The usual.

_Chapter 7: Tired Of Being Alone_

Kimberley decided that she would forgive Rev for being their grandmother's favorite. He had gotten them both out of the house by convincing her that Kimberley needed help with her statskeeping, and that he and his friends were going to go over the finer points of the game with Kimberley. Coming from anyone else, it would be considered a lie, but Rev knew that you couldn't be around the Titans and not talk about football. Kimberley had done fairly well with the stats last night, but Sheryl had let her know exactly what she had done wrong and corrected her mistakes. It bothered Kimberley that a little girl was teaching her, but she had to admit that Sheryl was a lot of fun to be around. Even though they would never admit it, most of the team listened to what she had to say and took her advice.

Once they got out of the house, Kimberley let out a huge sigh of relief. They were all meeting in the school parking lot, since it was the shortest distance away for almost everyone. She moved to the driver's side of the car, when she realized that she had another problem on her hands.

"Rev!" Kimberley whined. "What are we going to do? Ronnie and I both have our own cars!"

As usual, Rev was a step ahead of her. "Kimmy, calm down. I can drive your car, and you can ride with Sunshine. Unless you _want_ to drive Sunshine around."

Kimberley shuddered and shook her head no. She was all for women's equality, but she was pretty old fashioned when it came to dates. She got in on the passenger's side, and Rev backed the car onto the street. He put the car in gear and they headed for the school.

Kimberley turned to Rev. "So who's going to be there?"

Rev looked thoughtful. "Let's see. You and I obviously. We're picking up Blue and Petey. Lana and Julius are going to walk, and Ronnie is picking up Louie. Alan's in major trouble with his dad, and Gerry is pretty bummed about his girl, so they aren't coming."

_Thank God_, Kimberley thought. She had been thinking of that dream with Alan all day, and was scared to death that she would be acting weird around him, not to mention Ronnie. She was also a little disappointed that Gerry wasn't coming, but he obviously had some problem with her and Ronnie. _Oh well, I guess I'll never know now_, she thought.

They stopped at Blue's house to pick up him and Petey. Petey was no where near as angry as he had been last night, but he was still pretty bitter about the whole thing. They climbed in the back of the convertible, and Petey immediately started in on Kimberley.

"I can't believe you're going out with that white boy, Kimberley Harris. What's the matter, can't you find a brother-"

Blue slapped Petey across the back of the head. "I told you last night, and now I'ma tell you for the last time. He didn't know, and I know you told him, but nobody made you go in there."

Petey slumped down in the seat, and Kimberley turned around and glared at him. "Maybe you should try to find a white girl, Petey Jones. She'd probably be the only one to tolerate your sorry-"

"Kimberley!" Rev shouted.

Kimberley rolled her eyes. Blue took a deep breath, like he was trying to breathe in patience, and continued. "Now, we're all gonna go out and have a good time. Anyone who can't be cool can go home, okay? 'Cause I'm not gonna go through this again tonight y'all."

Petey and Kimberley both mumbled apologies to each other. Rev decided to turn on the radio just in case they decided to resume their fighting. He and Blue both started singing along with the Jackson 5, and Petey relented and joined them. By the time they pulled into the parking lot, everyone was in a much better mood.

Louie and Ronnie were already there. Kimberley jumped out of the car before Petey could open his rude mouth and practically ran over to Ronnie. He gave her a huge smile and breathed, "Wow, you look great."

"Thanks," Kimberley replied. It had taken her a long time to get ready, because she wanted to look nice, but not like she tried too hard. This morning, Lana had came over that afternoon and pressed her hair so that it would be straight, twisted it up in a tight bun, then took it out of the bun so that it would have waves. It seemed dumb to Kimberley to straighten her curly hair and then make it wavy, but she had to admit that Lana had done a great job. Not wanting to waste a good outfit on the whole group, she decided to wear her favorite jeans and a white sweater that fit just right.

Ronnie was looking over at Petey with worry. Kimberley decided to give them an opportunity to make up. "Hey, Louie," said Kimberley, "can I talk to you for a minute?" He nodded, and she gave Ronnie a smile and pulled Louie off to the side.

"Giving them a chance to apologize?" Louie questioned. For some reason, Louie could read her as well as Rev did, and he never cared if she swore.

"Yeah, and I swear if Petey ruins my night, I will kick his ass!" Kimberley whispered loudly. Louie laughed, and they both turned to see what was going to happen. Rev stood next to Ronnie, and Blue stood next to Petey, as if they were expecting a fight. Ronnie said something to Petey, and Petey looked mad, but then broke into a grin and hugged him. Kimberley let out a sigh of relief, and hugged Louie. They walked over to join the others, and spotted Julius and Lana crossing the street. Soon, they were all standing in a group, trying to decide what to do.

Blue, Kimberley and Ronnie wanted to go see _Harold and Maude_. Louie, Rev and Petey wanted to go bowling, and Julius and Lana were split. Finally, Lana announced that she wasn't going to wear smelly old shoes, and everyone decided to go to the movie. Splitting up into cars wasn't much fun either. After a lot of debating, they decided that Julius, Lana and Louie would ride with Rev, and that Petey and Blue would ride with Kimberley and Ronnie. Kimberley wasn't mad at Petey anymore, and suddenly she was glad he was there. They definitely had the better car, and it was going to be a lot more fun.

Kimberley looked over at Ronnie and smiled. He glanced over at her and grinned. She felt butterflies in her stomach, and blushed and looked away. Ronnie tentavely reached over and took her hand. She looked over at him in surprise, and then gave his hand a little squeeze. All the noise in the car seemed to disappear, and for a moment it felt like there was no one else in the world.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, how was it for you?" Lana questioned. After church, Lana had somehow charmed Kimberley's grandmother, and she now had permission to visit the Kane's. Now they were sitting on the floor in Lana's room, talking about the night before. After the movie, they had all went out to eat and then headed back to the parking lot. Julius and Lana had walked back to their houses, while Rev drove the guys home to give Ronnie and Kimberley time to be alone. Rev came back and picked Kimberley up when he was done. Even though he questioned her about what happened, she kept her mouth shut. She didn't feel like telling anyone what happened.

"It was okay, nothing amazing. It was fun, but it felt awkward," Kimberley spoke without emotion.

"It was your first time, and it's never comfortable. What is wrong with you? Ronnie is hot and a football player. That's all that matters right now," Lana said as she blew on her freshly painted nails.

Kimberley rolled her eyes. Lana was her oldest friend, but she had a very shallow streak. Even when they were younger, Lana had always said and done what was needed to be popular. It surprised her that they had remained friends for so long, and shocked her that Julius had finally given in and dated her. Lana had been after him since the second grade. They seemed happy, but any guy would be happy with the way Lana looked.

"Kimberley? Hello?" Lana waived her hand in front of Kimberley's face.

She glanced up. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I know first dates are weird, but Ronnie seemed great, and you looked like you were having fun. Did something happen in the parking lot?"

"Nothing happened. We just talked. That's all." Kimberley gave her a look, and Lana decided to let it go. Kimberley stood up, put on her jacket, and said goodbye. Lana knew that she was sensitive, and worried that she had maybe pushed her too far. She had only been kidding with the sexual innuendos, but had to remind herself that Kimberley was different.

After giving Mrs. Kane a polite goodbye, Kimberley hurried out the door. She was pleasantly surprised that her grandma had let her go over to the Kane's house after church this afternoon. Hoping that it would happen more frequently, she hurried down the street so that she would arrive early for her curfew. On the mostly quiet street, memories of last night's conversation swirled in her head.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Kimberley felt so awkward sitting in the car alone with Ronnie. Everyone's suggestive looks when they had left made Kimberley flush. She wasn't extremely shy about guys, but it was harder to face the situation when people already assumed what you were going to be doing._

_"So, um, did you have a nice time tonight?" Ronnie asked politely._

_She could feel her face turning red again, so Kimberley turned to look out the window. "Yeah, it was great."_

_Ronnie placed his hand on her shoulder, and Kimberley jumped. "Hey. We don't have to do anything."_

_Turning to face him, Ronnie gave her a reassuring grin. Kimberley found herself grinning back, and didn't turn away when Ronnie bent in to kiss her. Things moved along very quickly, and got more intense which surprised both of them. The gearshaft was very much in the way, so when Ronnie moved his lips down to her neck, she didn't have to worry about things going much farther. Getting lost in the moment, Kimberley heard herself whisper out a name._

_A car horn blared, and they broke apart. Kimberley reached for the handle, and quietly said goodbye. Ronnie gave her a quick peck on the cheek and a strained smile. "Bye, Kim."_

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Replaying the night just seemed to make it more mortifying. The music had been a little loud, and there was a chance that he had not heard her correctly or heard her at all. The look he gave her when she got out of the car was a little harder to rationalize. Shaking her head, Kimberley decided that Ronnie was the one who would have to decide how to handle the situation. There was no way she was going to ask him if he heard her call out another guy's name.

Reaching her street, she ran into Julius walking in the opposite direction. He was holding a basketball and had a troubled look on his face. Kimberley faked a smile, and told him hello.

"You haven't seen a Camaro driving around, have you?" Julius asked. Kimberley shook her head no. "Man, I thought things were gonna be different. Guess Bertier is too good for us and the Burg." He slammed the basketball down on the curb, and kept walking.

Kimberley let out an exasperated sigh. Although the idea seemed ludicrous, she kept flashing back to Petey's words. Maybe he did have a point.


	8. Come Saturday Morning

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Remember the Titans or any of the characters, real life people, places or events portrayed in the movie. Any events that occurred in this story are fictional and are not in any way connected to any real people hopefully. The title of this chapter is a song that was sung by The Sandpipers, so I obviously don't own it. I borrowed a few lines from my favorite book in this chapter and the previous chapter: Ellen Emerson White's _Life Without Friends_. I am not making any money from this story, so please don't sue me and try to take away my Camaro. I do own Kimberley Harris and various characters in this story, mostly the ones whose names you don't recognize. I do not own Ryan Hurst or Kip Pardue, but once I win the lottery...

**Author's Notes:**So, you all know I am the on-a-whim type of updater. Between work, TV show obsessions, trying to spend time with friends/family and baseball(!), I am lucky that I have time to shower. Anyways, you know the drill. I once again apologize for the lack of reviews to your awesome stories, but I am reading them and loving them.

**Reviews: **Thanks in advance! I felt stuck, so this chapter was especially hard for me to churn out. Maybe you guys are feeling the same way, so let's try to keep each other going.

**Technical Notes:** Finally! A new computer to help me churn out new chapters! With spell check! And the next chapter is the one I've been wanting to write since I started the story. Didn't know it would take me eight chapters (and four years!) to get there.

_Chapter 8: Come Saturday Morning_

_What a horrible week_, Kimberley thought in the team locker room Saturday morning. It seemed like everyone was mad at someone or something. Ronnie was avoiding her, Julius and Gerry were ignoring each other, and everyone else seemed exhausted by the few persistent protesters that camped out by the entrance to the school every day. The coaches were beyond irritated by the disaster that had been yesterday's game, yet couldn't show it because the team had somehow managed to pull off a victory.

Kimberley finished sorting through the freshly laundered jerseys, and started putting them back in the correct lockers. Even if the names had not been taped on, she could have picked her friends out without thinking. Petey's was a huge disaster, with dirty clothes crammed to the top. Blue's had album covers with all of his favorite Motown artists tacked on the back wall, while Alan's was covered in newspaper clippings about the Titans. Rev's was perfectly organized and sat next to Louie's, which had the largest set of cleats anyone had ever seen. Julius' sat next to Gerry's, almost mirror images of each other. Kimberley paused and looked into Gerry's locker. He had taken down his picture of Emma, and it lay crumpled next to his helmet.

Her heart skipped a beat, then flooded with guilt. _You are terrible Kimberley Grace_, she thought. _Gerry's miserable, and you are happy because there might be a chance with him now. You are having dirty dreams and thoughts about Alan, and you are making Ronnie feel horrible by saying another guy's name while making out with him! _

Moving quickly away from Gerry's locker, she moved back towards the end of the row to Ronnie's locker. It was nicely organized and neat, which she suspected was due to his father's influence. The arrangement was similar to Julius' minus the girlfriend picture. More guilt flooded over Kimberley. She held Ronnie's jersey against her chest and took a deep breath. _Forget about Gerry. Ronnie's a great guy. _

The door swung open, and Kimberley jumped. Turning around, she realized that it was only Petey. He smiled, and gave her a suspicious look.

"Looking for something to steal out of my locker?" Petey joked.

"Like anyone would want your dirty sweat socks, Petey. I'm almost done putting the jerseys away," Kimberley retorted. "Why are you in such a hurry? Rev's out there. Go bother him."

Petey sat down on the bench next to the locker and sighed. "Sunshine and him are going over veers again. Since I'm on defense now there's not much-"

"Ronnie's here?" Kimberley started to panic.

"Yes, your boyfriend's here." Petey was grinning until he saw the look on Kimberley's face. "What is going on with you two? Last Saturday you were all lovey-dovey, and now if I mention your names to each other you both get that scared look. Is there something going on here that I should be aware of?"

Petey wasn't the ideal person to talk to, but Kimberley really had no other options right now. "I don't think Ronnie likes me anymore," she said in a quiet voice.

"Right. He's out there trying to explain to his girl's brother what happened between you two in his parked car for fun." Petey gave her a concerned look. "Do I need to beat him up?"

"No! It's my fault. Ronnie didn't do anything wrong." Kimberley sighed and sat down next to Petey. "I'm just too much of a mess when it comes to guys. He deserves better."

"You're right, he does."

Kimberley looked up in surprise and anger. Then she saw Petey's devilish smile and started laughing. "Am I just making things more complicated than they need to be?"

"Yes." Petey stood up and pulled Kimberley to her feet. Then he gave her a slight push to the outside door. "Go out there and talk to Sunshine before Rev knows more about your date than he wants to, okay? I'll take care of the rest of the stuff in here."

"Sure, I'll send Rev in to finish up," Kimberley teased. Stepping out into the bright morning light made her pause to shade her eyes. Once they adjusted, she had a clear view of the practice field. Moving forward, she caught sight of Ronnie and drew a deep breath.

_He is really gorgeous_, Kimberley thought. She heard the way all the girls talked about him in the bathrooms and the hall. More than that, he was a genuinely nice guy, and liked her. There was no more fighting it. _Ronnie's the guy I'm supposed to be with._

* * *

"So, I'm pretty much a basket case. It has nothing to do with you. I just need to go a little bit slower, no matter what I do or say."

Kimberley and Ronnie sat on the football field alone, talking after Rev had excused himself to go and help Petey. Kimberley had just finished telling Ronnie the basics about her past. She had explained almost everything except what she felt about the other guys, and finally looked up from the grass she had kept focused on. She expected to see disgust and disappointment, but all she saw was admiration and concern.

"I can't believe someone would hit you," Ronnie said quietly. He moved his hand slowly across her cheek and Kimberley looked away again.

Ronnie cleared his throat and continued. "I'm sorry if that night made you uncomfortable. I got the feeling you weren't into it, but I thought that was because..."

Startled, Kimberley looked up. "Because why?"

"This is going to sound really stupid." Ronnie paused and ran his hand through his hair. "The last girl I liked, she was in love with one of my friends. She didn't tell me, and I ended up looking like the biggest dork when they got caught making out under the bleachers at homecoming."

"Oh." Kimberley had to remind herself to breath.

"Yeah, I was kind of a mess. Things worked out though. My dad got transferred, and I met you," Ronnie said with a smile.

Kimberley felt her heart break a little. _Oh God, I can't hurt Ronnie_, Kimberley thought. _Any other guy would have given up a long time ago._

Ronnie looked at her hesitantly. "So, there's nothing left to tell? No other guy you'd rather be with?"

Wishing that she were telling the truth, Kimberley shook her head and faked a smile. "Nope, there's only you."

Leaning in to reassure herself and Ronnie with a kiss, Kimberley saw a flash of gold out of the corner of her eye. Closing her eyes, she wondered if that meant anything.

* * *

Driving around in his Camaro always made Gerry feel better. It cleared his mind, and got him away from his mother, who was just as stubborn as he was. The only problem was, he was left to work out his issues by himself.

Gerry had never felt so confused in his life. He was one of those people who depended on routine and structure, and didn't like change. Everything in his life had been the same for as long as he could remember. Football, school, friends, and girls. He certainly didn't want to share his girl troubles with anyone.

He knew he was in love with Emma. Ever since the day she sat in front of him in Sunday school ten years ago. They had always been "Gerry and Emma", even when they had broken up for two months during sophomore year. He had quietly watched Emma date Will, Ray's older brother, who had been a senior. They went to prom, and Emma had sat smiling with so much pride at his graduation. Will had broken up with her the next day, and headed off to boot camp. Heartbroken, Emma had ran to Gerry, crying that she had made a terrible mistake, and took her back, no questions asked. Most people had called him a fool, but he didn't care. _Should I make myself miserable and not be with her? _he had asked. Now with her leaving for a second time over his choice of friends, he wondered if he really had just been fooling himself into thinking she really loved him.

His feelings for Kimberley weren't as clear. He knew that he felt something. Guilt was definitely something he felt. His mother wouldn't even let Julius in the house. There was no way that she could even imagine him dating Kimberley. Except the thing was, _he_could imagine it, which made him feel worse. Gerry had loved and admired his father, and tried to emulate him the best he could. Mr. Bertier had been extremely vocal about opposing integration when he was alive, and Gerry had not really questioned whether his father had been right until recently.

Wondering how his parents would react was not the most pressing issue at the moment. All of his teammates would hate him. Ronnie was a good guy, and Kimberley seemed to really like him. Sometimes Gerry would look over onto the sidelines during practice and see her looking directly at Ronnie with a smile. Then there were the other times when he would notice Kimberley looking right at him. Gerry would smile and she would turn away.

Most people would take this as a sign that she wasn't interested. Gerry knew better. That night when he had talked to her alone told him something. She hadn't said anything about being interested in him, but her eyes had said that she was. When he met her gaze, there was something that hadn't been there before, but was there every time their eyes met since. Gerry knew that he should say something to her, finish the conversation they had started that night. He knew if he could just tell her what he felt that things would change. Probably not for the better of anyone else, but at least he could clear his mind.

Gerry grinned, did a u-turn in the middle of the road and headed towards the school. It was Saturday morning. Kimberley would be sorting the uniforms. He glanced at his watch. 11:20. Kind of late, but Rev had said over and over that Kimberley was not a morning person. He sped up, catching site of the front entrance parking lot. He took a left and drove towards the back, where all the athletes parked. It was right next to the fields, and had access to the outside locker room doors. Catching sight of the practice field, Gerry slowed down. There were Ronnie and Kimberley, sitting there. They both looked miserable. Gerry held his breath and eased off the accelerator even more. Ronnie ran his hand through his hair, smiled, then said something to Kimberley. Gerry turned his head so he could see them as he passed. Kimberley smiled, and leaned over to kiss Ronnie.

Gerry let out his breath and stepped on the accelerator hard. Waiting for the right moment never worked when you were too late.


	9. Love Her Madly

_**Disclaimer:**_I don't own Remember the Titans or any of the characters, real life people, places or events portrayed in the movie. Any events that occurred in this story are fictional and are not in any way connected to any real people hopefully. The title of this chapter is a song that was sung by The Doors, so I obviously don't own it. I am not making any money from this story, so please don't sue me and try to take away my Camaro. I do own Kimberley Harris and various characters in this story, mostly the ones whose names you don't recognize. I do not own Ryan Hurst or Kip Pardue, but once I get that big inheritance from that unknown relative…

_**Author's Notes:**_This is THE chapter that I based my whole story around. It's set during the Groveton game scene after the ''dancing". I can't believe it took me so long to get to it! It's probably one of the only chapters that deal with an actual major movie scene. So you will get the perspectives of Kimberley, Ronnie, and Gerry. Go love triangle!

_**Reviews:**_Love them! I know that my earlier chapters were lacking, and eventually I will go back and revise them. Truthfully, I have no idea who Kimberley will end up with, so keep reading!

_**Technical Notes:**_Ronnie's flip of Kip Tyler had to have some background story, right? No way was that the first time he tried that. So I picked a school that Ronnie could have gone to in Huntington Beach. I got the idea from the Wiki article about Edison HS in Huntington Beach, CA and their rivalry with Fountain Valley HS that started in 1969. Obviously, this is just a made up idea by me, but I wanted to have some real element to the made up back-story.

_Chapter 9: Love Her Madly_

Twin intuition was not something Kimberley believed in. Kimberley and Rev had such different personalities it was easy to forget that they were twins, but she knew Rev was in pain before he felt it. Time seemed to slow as the coaches realized that Rev was not getting up. Kimberley closed her eyes and a flash of the last time Rev had broken a bone came to her mind. The team trainers hustled out onto the field, and Kimberley came out of her daze. She tossed her score book at Sheryl and flew out of the stands.

Down on the track, Lana motioned for the state troopers to let Kimberley through. Running to the sideline where the team was standing, she saw Petey looking like he was going to throw up. Julius turned around and jogged over to Kimberley. He took her arm and led her back to the bench, where he, Blue and Alan formed a protective circle around her. Rev was being walked over to the bench with Coach Boone and Dr. Fields.

"Well, he broke a bone in the wrist. He won't be throwing anymore this season," Dr. Fields explained to Coach Boone. Coach Boone grimaced, and then turned to face Coach Yoast and the referee.

Rev finally made it to the bench and sat down. He looked up and noticed Kimberley's worried face. Sucking in his breath as the trainers moved his injured wrist back and forth, he tried to give Kimberley a small smile.

"Hey, it's not like this is the first time this has happened." Rev turned around and tried to answer Dr. Fields questions.

Kimberley's hand flew to her mouth. _Did that Kip Tyler jerk do this on purpose_? she thought. Her eyes searched the field to find him. He was standing with the rest of the Groveton defense. He said something to one of his teammates, and then turned to face the T.C. Williams bench. He wiped away some imaginary tears, grabbed his stomach and started laughing.

Kimberley was so mad she couldn't choke back her tears. She just blinked and let them flow. Julius put his hand on her shoulder, and steered her away from the bench, turning them towards the field.

"Let's give them a few minutes to work on Rev, okay?" Julius suggested. Kimberley nodded. "Where's the book?"

Kimberley motioned towards Sheryl. "She'll do a better job than me anyway."

Julius looked down the row of players, and saw Coach Boone talking to Ronnie. "Hey, Sunshine's going in the game." He glanced down at Kimberley, who started getting tearier. "You know, I'd take it pretty bad if my girlfriend was crying because I was getting my first chance to play all year."

She smacked him on the arm. "Julius! That's not it and you know it and Ronnie knows it!"

Julius grinned and turned to glance at Rev. "Look, they are taping up Rev's wrist right now. He's gonna be fine."

Kimberley shrugged.

"Hey Rev! Sunshine's going to go in," Julius yelled. Rev gave a thumbs up with his good hand.

Julius turned back to Kimberley. "See? He's fine. Now do me a favor Kimmy. Wipe your eyes, smile, and clap for Sunshine when he runs out there."

Kimberley wiped her eyes and looked at Ronnie. He looked terrified, but determined. Coach Boone gave him a push onto the field, and he glanced over at Kimberley. She ran her hand across her eyes, gave him a smile and clapped as hard as she could for him.

* * *

Ronnie was listening to everything Coach Boone was saying, but he still didn't feel confident. Rev had been working tirelessly on pitching the ball to the receivers with him for the past couple of weeks, but he never thought he would have to test his skills in an actual game that mattered. Throwing distance was what had made him a star at Edison, his old school. Ronnie took a deep breath, repeated the play in his head, and started to jog out onto the field.

After taking a few steps, he glanced back over his shoulder at the sidelines. Kimberley was wiping her eyes, trying to hide the fact that she had been crying. She locked eyes with him, gave him a smile, and started to clap. Ronnie knew it was taking all of her strength to do it, and he felt a burst of adrenaline. He wanted to make Kip Tyler feel as bad as he made Rev and Kimberley feel, and he knew just the way to do it.

When he was a freshman, he had been thrust into a starting quarterback role. The high school he had been planning to go to had been redistricted and new Edison High School had opened. Most of the football team had petitioned to stay in the old school, Fountain Valley, and the school board had decided to let the juniors and seniors stay. When his coach had saw Ronnie doing Tai chi before practice, he asked him to try using his opponents force against him. After a few tries, he had finally gotten the hang of it. Near the end of the season, the two schools finally met, with Fountain Valley heavily favored to win the game and go to the playoffs. During the fourth quarter of the game, Fountain Valley's best defender had broken the tackle, and was headed straight for him. Ronnie chucked the ball out of bounds, ducked, and flipped the linebacker over. Edison had won, and Fountain Valley had lost their playoff hopes.

Reaching the offense on the field, Ronnie got into the huddle. Now that he had a solid plan for gaining back the momentum of the game he felt very confident. He was disgusted with Ray, who had missed the block in the first place, but calmly told him to release this time. Ray nodded. Then Ronnie explained his plan for Louie to let Kip Tyler through.

"What?" Louie questioned in disbelief.

"Just let him through. Trust me."

Louie shrugged, and got into position on the line. Taking a deep breath, Ronnie called out the play, and took the hard snap. He took three big steps back, and saw Kip Tyler charging right toward him. Chucking the ball toward the Titan's sideline, he squatted down and braced his right shoulder. As soon as he felt Kip Tyler make contact, Ronnie quickly rose to his feet, and heard the crowd gasp. Apparently, it had worked. He glanced up at one of the Groveton defenders, who were standing there in shock. Grabbing his mask, he started moving the defenders head back and forth. The referees started blowing whistles, and Ronnie wondered if he had gone too far. The sight of Kip Tyler lying on the ground was just a little too satisfying. Ronnie shoved away more of the Groveton defense, and tried to stop himself from smirking as Kip Tyler's teammates helped him up.

As his teammates congratulated him, Ronnie took one more look at the sidelines. The coaches were grinning, the defense was cheering and Rev was laughing so hard that he seemed to completely forget about the pain in his wrist. When his gaze came to rest on Kimberley though, he finally allowed himself to smile.

She still had tears in her eyes, but the reason for them had changed. She was laughing, and when Ronnie caught her gaze, he could finally feel all the things he had been feeling for her reflected back at him. He winked at her, and she blew him a kiss back.

Ronnie headed back into the huddle, threw an arm around Louie, and said, "C'mon, let's make the Rev proud."

* * *

"Game ball… Ronnie Bass!" Coach Boone yelled.

This was followed by another loud cheer, while Ronnie shook Coach Boone's hand and tried to get everyone's attention one more time.

"Hey… this ball here goes to the real king right here. Thanks for teaching me the veer, Rev," Ronnie said, while he and Rev hugged.

Gerry was consumed with guilt. Technically, it was Ray's fault, but he was just as much to blame. He heard Ray talking about doing something up at camp, but he never thought that he would do anything that would result in someone getting hurt. Ray had hurt the whole team, with Rev and Kimberley being the most affected.

Taking off his pads, Gerry cringed, remembering the tears streaming down Kimberley's face. At that moment, he had wished he were on offense so he could tear Kip Tyler apart. _But Sunshine took care of that just fine by himself, didn't he? _he thought sarcastically. Then, something clicked in Gerry's mind. He was mad because he hadn't been the one to take care of it. If he had just done something about Ray, none of this would have happened. If Ray wasn't on the team, maybe Gerry could have somehow been the hero in Kimberley's eyes.

_What if Ray wasn't on the team? What if I told Coach Boone the truth? I know his policy, but he has to understand. I can't let Ray hurt the team more than he already has. What if he pulled the same stunt on Sunshine? He already doesn't like him. We lose another quarterback and we'll be done for the season. Ray will hate me. All my other old friends do. Alan is the only one speaking to me. I have to do it. I already lost Emma, and I have ruined any chance with Kimberley. Kimberley will be devastated if something happens to Sunshine too. I let her down once. I won't do it again._

His mind made up, Gerry took a deep breath and said, "Coach? Can I speak with you in private?"

* * *

Kimberley was getting impatient. Before he left for the emergency room with Louie, Rev had told her that the guys were still celebrating pretty hard, and that he had called their grandmother to let her know they would be a little late so that Kimberley could spend a little time with Ronnie. By the looks of things, it was going to be very little time.

Two players came out, and Kimberley took the advantage to sneak in to the hall that led to the gymnasium and locker rooms. The doors were locked from the outside after school hours. Letting her eyes adjust in the dark, she noticed Gerry leaning against a row of lockers. She walked over to him and placed her hand on his arm, which made him jump.

"Gerry? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. How is Rev?"

"In pain, but he is headed to the emergency room right now."

"You didn't go with him?"

"He said I shouldn't because hospitals scare me. Besides, I wanted to thank Ronnie. That jerk Kip Tyler got what he deserved."

Gerry shrugged. "Yeah, I guess he did."

Kimberley felt confused. She was about to ask Gerry what he meant by that, but at that moment Ronnie came out of the locker room. The smile he was wearing faded to concern when he saw Kimberley standing there.

"Hey," Ronnie said softly. "Are you okay?"

Kimberley smiled. "I feel much better now that you are here."

Ronnie put his arm around Kimberley's shoulders. "Jim and Phil promised me that they would clean things up for you tonight. I thought we could go and make sure that Rev is okay."

"Sounds good." Kimberley leaned up and gave Ronnie a light kiss on his cheek.

He grinned at her, and then looked up. "Bertier, you coming man?"

Gerry felt like he had been punched in stomach, but he gave the couple a small smile. "You two go. I'm waiting for Julius."

"Okay, see you later," Ronnie said while he playfully punched Gerry on the arm. Kimberley gave Gerry a small wave with her right hand.

As they turned to leave, Gerry slid down the lockers to the floor. Putting his head in his hands, he realized another thing he had to do. _I have to get over these women. Fast._


End file.
